TAK

“My next several hours were spent learning how to play tak. Even if I had not been nearly mad with idleness, I would have enjoyed it. Tak is the best sort of game: simple in its rules, complex in its strategy. Bredon beat me handily in all five games we played, but I am proud to say that he never beat me the same way twice.” -Kvothe

That’s how Patrick Rothfuss introduces TAK, an elegant two-player strategy game, in his book The Wise Man’s Fear. But the rules are not given in the book, because at the time there were no rules.

Now James Ernest and Patrick Rothfuss have worked together to create a set of rules for TAK. Our goal is simply to create a classical strategy game as good as the one described in the book, and we think we’ve got something pretty good.

You will also need some pieces for the game. In a pinch you can use checkers, with a crown representing that the stone is standing up. If you have a good source of wooden squares, get some that are about 1″ square and 3/8″ thick. Just about anything can be used as a capstone.

There is a diagram in the rulebook with dimensions for the pieces in the core game. The dark and light pieces are a different shape, just for fun, but they still move and stack nicely together. We are also fond of playing with simple squares, 1″ x 1″ x 3/8″. You don’t need a diagram for that.